PR 

19^5 

H37 


A 

A 

CO 

0 

=^=  t- 

0 

^^^^^  33 

0 

3 

4 

=^  > 

6 

n 

8 
8 

=^=^=  O 

5 

7 

Pn)hupciattori 


^. 


El^LiBS/VlERE  M3,  by  D^  G^" 
.  ^^eiUpl the }u n iorProf essor of 

,  English  In  ^he  V^i^iuersity  of  Mich'ff^" 
Published  by  0  t  H^iah  &'c ''  aft/S'Som 
;  ;«irset>t  in  IkustonMiJliisactiusettA  &.  atf.s 
&  iO  KJauist^ckSt  Cp^enj:(iaraen  London. 


.'^Artn  Arlwr^  , 


the   Angws"P<"^ss 
.      ^DCCCXCIII 


/k: 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

ELI  SOBEL 


"^y    4t"  \  y^^  ^^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/chaucerspronunciOOhemp 


CHAUCER'S 

PRONUNCIATION 

AND   THE    SPELLING    OF   THE 

ELLESMERE   MS 


BY 

GEORGE   HEMPL  PhD 

PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH   IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


gov  oxtt  of  olbc  fclbpa  aa  ^ucxi  eeijtli 

©ontftlj  ai  tlji*  nctue  corn  front  xjere  to  ycrc 

3ln&   ottt  of  olbc  boUca  in  o*J«'^  f^Htli 

(Hcnxetlj  al  tl)ta  ncwc  acimtcc  tljat  ntsn  Icre 

Paiicmciit  of  Fowles 


BOSTON 
D  C  HEATH  &  CO 

1893 


copYRiGnr 
S"  ®  ©crttl;  &  (So 


ANN  ARBOR  MICHIGAN 


PEEFACE. 


There  are  various  ways  of  reading  Chaucer.  Not  a  few 
attempt  to  read  the  works  of  the  Middle-English  poet  as 
though  they  were  written  in  the  speech  of  to-day,  and  suc- 
ceed in  getting  a  disjointed  jargon  that  is  neither  poetry  nor 
prose.  Others  pronounce  the  vowels  approximately  as  in 
German,  and,  slipping  in  or  leaving  out  enough  e's  to  give  a 
passable  rhythm,  revel  in  the  glamour  of  a  bogus  antiquity. 
Still  others,  and  they  mostly  foreigners,  strive,  with  more  or 
less  success,  to  attain  a  scientific  reproduction  of  the  speech 
of  the  poet.  It  is  my  pleasant  duty  each  year  to  introduce 
a  hundred  odd  students  to  the  study  of  Chaucer;  and,  niucli 
as  I  despise  the  naive  and  the  capricious  methods  of  reading 
the  poet's  works,  I  shrink  from  imposing  a  minute  study  of 
Middle-English  phonology  upon  a  class  of  undergraduate 
students,  lest  at  the  end  of  the  brief  time  allotted  the  sub- 
ject they  find  they  have  the  shell  but  not  the  kernel. 

Still,  in  these  matters  one  is  largely  limited  by  the  books  in 
the  market.  The  Prolog  and  The  Kniglifs  Talc  doubtless 
form  the  most  acceptable  pieces  for  undergraduate  students, 
though  the  Talc  does  get  rather  long  before  it  ends;  and 
the  Morris-Skeat  edition,  in  spite  of  its  weaknesses,  is  the 
best  text  with  a  glossary.  But  the  student  is  there  referred  to 
Skeat's  edition  of  another  poem  for  a  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject of  pronunciation,  and  this  is  found  to  be  based  ujjon 
the  idiosyncrasies  of  an  inferior  MS  and  to  require  the 
gentle   correction  of  Prof.    Skeat.      I    use    the    Morris-Skeat 

3 


4  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

book,  but  I  have  found  that  the  introduction  to  the  subject 
is  made  at  a  much  more  rapid  pace  and  in  a  far  more  satis- 
factory manner  by  the  aid  of  the  marked  texts  in  Sweet's 
Second  Middle-English  Primer.  Sweet's  excellent  treatment 
of  the  pronunciation  offers,  however,  unnecessary  difficulties 
to  non-philological  students;  while  the  choppy  and  inade- 
quate presentation  of  the  subject  in  Skeat's  echo*  of 
Sweet's  Primer  is  quite  unsatisfactory.  I  have  therefore 
tried  to  meet  the  needs  of  my  students  in  this  little  book, 
and  shall  use  along  with  it  Sweet's  Primer,  to  be  followed 
by  the  Morris-Skeat  book. 

My  aim  at  first  was  to  print  but  half  a  dozen  pages;  as  it  is, 
I  have  not  put  in  anything  that  I  do  not  try  to  have  my  young 
people  master.  Others  may  find  it  advisable  to  omit  or 
postpone  some  sections.  Still  others  may  deem  it  necessary 
to  neglect  some  of  the  distinctions  1  have  made:  to  sound  tj 
like  e  or  even  ay  like  ey,  and  to  pronounce  the  vvords  in 
§  'ii'ii  '■>  ^"^^  perhaps  even  those  containing  eu  and  ii  as  in 
M"E.  Surely  the  failure  to  prolong  double  consonants  (§  39) 
need  not  be  considered  a  serious  matter  in  the  case  of  the 
ordinary  student.  But  I  should  think  it  folly  to  ignore  the 
difference  between  q  and  o,  which  has  its  counterpart  in 
M°E.  The  section  treating  of  the  Relation  of  ME  Vowels 
to  M"E  Vowels  is  meant  to  be  of  practical  use  in  acquiring 
the  right  pronunciation  of  the  ME  vowels,  especially  when 
the  student  uses  an  unmarked  text. 

I  have  taken  pains  to  cite  instances  of  nearly  every  word 
mentioned,  if  possible,  in  the  Prolog  or  The  Knighfs  Tale. 
The  spelling  is,  with  rare  exceptions,  that  of  the  Ellesmere 
MS;  the  numbers  refer  to  the  lines  in  the  Six-Text  Edition, 
which  for  the  Prolog  accord  with  the  numbering  in  Sweet 
and  Skeat,  and  for  TIte  Knighfs  Tale  will  be  found  in  brack- 
ets in  Skeat's  edition. 


*  School  Edition  of  Cliaucer's  Prologue,  Oxford,  1891. 


PREFACE.  5 

I  have  stuck  closely  to  the  matter  of  spelling  and  pronun- 
ciation; but,  should  my  treatment  of  the  subject  prove  to  be 
of  use  to  others,  I  hope  to  find  time  to  prepare  an  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Study  of  Chaucer  that  will  aim  to  meet  the  wants 

of  American  students. 

George  Hempl. 
Ann  Arbor,  October  1,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


§1.      Terms,  AbI)reviations,  Signs,  (S:c. 

^2.      General  Remarks  on  ME  Spelling,  &c. 

a)  The  Values  of  the  Spelling  ou  ow. 

b)  "  "       "      "  "         u. 

c)  The  Use  of  y  and  o  for  i  and  u. 

d)  "       "     "  y  for  initial  i. 

e)  "       "     "  y  and  w  for  i  and  u. 

f)  "       "     "  V  and  u. 

g)  "       "     "  I,  J,  andi. 

h)   The  Differentiation  of  ^  Q  and  S  0. 

i)    The  Pronunciation  of  g  and  j  in  French  words. 

k)      "  "  "  ch. 

I)   Nasal  vowels. 
§  3.      The  Pronunciation  of  the  Vowels. 
§3.   a,  a;  ai  or  ay;  au  or  aw. 
§4.   e,  e,  ei,  ei  or  ey,  q\,  ie,  ye;  q;  qu,  d. 
§  5.   i  or  y,  T  or  y. 

§6.    o,  u,  ou,  Ou  or  uw,  ou;  q;  oi  or  oy. 
§7.   u  or  w,  o;  ou  or  ow  =  u. 
§  8.   ii,  u  or  ui  =  u. 
§9.   Imperfect  Rimes,  &C. 
§  10.   The  Quantity  of  Vowels. 

I)   Lengthening  in  Open  Syllables. 

Note  I.   The  High  Vowels   not  Lengthened. 

7 


8  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

Note  2.   a)   Words  with  Open  and  Closed  Syllables. 

b)  Monosyllables  of  this  kind. 

c)  Words  ending  in  1,  n,  r,  y. 

d)  Similar  Shortening  of  Long  Vowels. 
2)   Shortening  of  Vowel  before  More  Consonants. 

§  I  I.      The  Relation  of  ME  Vowels  to  MnE  Vowels. 

§12.    General  Changes. 

§  13.   Short  V'owels. 

§  14.   Long  Vowels. 

!^  15.    Diphthongs. 

§  16.   Specific  Changes. 

§17.   Shortening  in  Closed  Syllables. 
§  18.   Slurred  Forms  and  Full  Forms. 
§  19.  Effect  of  R  on  Preceding  Vowels. 
§20.  Effect  of  L  and  JV  on  Neighboring  Vowels. 
§  21.   Dialectic  and  other  Variants. 
§  22.  The  Loss  of  Vowels. 
§  23.   Loss  of  Weak  e. 

i)  When  Adjoining  Syllables  Contain  Weak  e. 

2)  After  an  Unstressed  Syllable. 

3)  In  Words  Having  Little  Stress. 

4)  Finally  after  Short  High  Vowels. 

5)  Finally  in  French  Words  in  Stressed  -ye,  &c. 

6)  In  the  Ending  -en. 

7)  Medially. 

8)  For  Metrical  Reasons. 

9)  Before  a  Word  Beginning  with  a  Vowel. 
§  24.   Other  Cases  of  Loss  of  Vowel. 

i)   In  the  Words:  the,  ne,  to,  &c. 

2)  In  the  Words:  is,  it,  See. 

3)  Between  Similar  Consonants,  &c. 
§  25.     The  Pronunciation  of  the  Consonants. 

§  26.  c. 
§  27.  ch. 


CONTENTS. 

§28.   g. 

§  29.   gh. 

§30.  j- 

§  31-  h. 

§32.   Consonantal  i  and  u. 

§  33.    The  Fricatives,  f,  s,  th. 
i)  In  Ordinary  Words. 
2)  In  Words  often  Unstressed, 

Note  I.  The  Rune  )>,  and  ''ye"  =  the. 
Note  2.   M°E  -ther  for  ME  -der. 

§34,  sh. 

§35-  r. 
§36.  wh. 

§37-  z- 
§  38.     Silent  Letters. 
§  39,     Double  Consonants. 


TERMS,  ABBKKVIATIONS,  SIGNS,  S:e. 


§1.  i)  A  voiced,  consonant  is  one  made  while  the  vocal 
chords  are  vibrating:  h,  /,  w^g,  &c. 

A  voiceless  consonant  is  one  made  while  the  glottis  is  wide 
open  and  the  vocal  chords  silent: /,  ^in  so,  t,f,  &c. 

A  7ci/iispered  consonant  is  one  made  while  the  vocal  chords 
are  contracted  but  not  put  into  vibration,  like  M°  E  is,  his, 
with,  of,  &c.  at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  cf.  %2)Z^  '^  ■ 

If  the  tongue  is  pressed  forward  during  the  formation  of  a 
vowel,  it  is  called  a  front  vo'ivel:  e,  i  or  y,  ii;  if  drawn  back, 
a  back  vowel:  a,  o,  Q,  u. 

A  vowel  is  said  to  be  low,  mid,  or  high,  according  as  the 
tongue  is  lowered  a  good  deal,  but  moderately,  or  very  little: 
i,  ii,  and  u  are  high  vowels;  ^  and  Q  are  low  vowels;  the  rest 
are  mid  vowels.  ^  and  Q  are  also  called  open  vowels  when 
compared  with  the  close  mid  vowels  e  and  0. 

2)   OE        Old  English  (=  "Anglo-Saxon"). 
ME       Middle  English. 
M"  E    Modern  English. 

The  transition  from  OE  to  ME   was   in  the   i2th  Century, 
that  from  ME  to  M"  E  in  the  15th  century. 
OF       Old  French. 
MD  F    Modern  French. 
E  Ms  The  Ellesmere  manuscript. 
C  The  Complaint  to  Pity. 

FA       The  Former  Age. 
P  The  Pardoner's  Tale. 

11 


12  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

All  other  references  are  to  the  Prolog  or  The  Knighfs 
Tale,  the  numbers  being  those  of  the  lines  in  the  Six-Text 
Edition  (also  given  in  Sweet  and  Skeat). 

3)   Letters  in  italics  are  almost  invariably  phonetic  signs; 
the  following  may  need  explanation: 
y  the  sound  of  sh  in  she. 


t/'^ 

( < 

<  ( 

ch 

'  church. 

0     i( 
0 

( I 

i  I 

S 

"  pleasure. 

dj'' 

It 

1  < 

J 

and  g  in  joy,  gin 

(B     " 

( ( 

i  i 

a 

in 

hat. 

a    " 

( i 

<  ( 

a 

in 

artistic. 

a    " 

t  i 

( i 

a 

<  ( 

art. 

au'' 

e  e 

<  ( 

ow  in  «^ze/. 

at  '' 

(  c 

( < 

ai 

in 

aisle. 

u   " 

ii 

<  i 

u 

in 

full. 

w    *' 

(( 

<  < 

u 

in 

rude. 

iu  " 

(< 

<( 

u 

in 

use. 

e    " 

(( 

it 

e 

in 

met. 

«    " 

<( 

tt 

e 

in 

there. 

p     " 

(< 

tt 

a 

in 

idea,  §4  Note 

-^     " 

a 

1 1 

e 

in 

her. 

V    " 

ii 

tt 

u 

in 

hut. 

:>    " 

11 

( I 

0 

in 

wJiat. 

0.    " 

ic 

I  c 

0 

in 

or. 

For  e  or  ei  and  o  or  ou  cf.  §  14  Note  i,  also  p.  17  ft.  nt.  and 
p.  18  ft.  nt.  For  the  ME  letters  with  diacritical  marks  see 
§§3-8,28,1. 

>  is  a  sign  meaning  "becomes"  or  "became." 


GENERAL  REMARKS  ON  ME.  SPELLING,  &c. 


§  2.  In  considering  the  spelling  and  pronunciation  of 
Middle  English  we  must  remember  that  the  language  con- 
tained French  elements  incorporated  with  the  native  English; 
that  the  English  of  that  time  was  in  some  respects  like  Old 
English  and  in  others  more  like  Modern  English,  while  the 
French  elements  had  come  into  the  language  from  Old 
French  and  consequently  were  more  like  that  than  like  Mod- 
ern French;  and,  furthermore,  that  in  Middle-English  times 
the  Old-French  system  of  spelling  was  in  vogue  in  England. 
Old  French  was,  of  course,  derived  from  Latin,  but  essential 
changes  had  taken  place  in  the  pronunciation,  and  students 
who  have  learned  Latin  according  to  the  Roman  method  of 
pronunciation  will  have  to  be  very  careful  not  to  introduce 
this  into  Middle  English.  On  the  other  hand,  those  that 
are  familiar  with  Modern  French  pronunciation  must  guard 
against  using  this  in  Middle  English. 

{a)  Thus  the  OE  word  Qt  was  pronounced  just  the  same 
in  ME  as  in  OE,  but  as  the  sound  of  long  u  (M"  E  "oo"  in 
"spool")  was  represented  by  "ou"  in  French,  the  word  was 
spelled  "out"  in  ME,  which  spelling  has  been  retained  in  M'lE 
though  the  long  u  has  become  the  diphthong  au.  While 
ow  was  often  used  for  ou  (§  2  <?),  the  sound  was  just  the 
same.  But  there  was  a  diphthong  in  native  words  which  too 
was  spelled  ou  or  ow;  this  may  be  distinguished  from  the 
long  vowel  by  the  fact  that  while  the  vowel  has  now  become 
au  (thou,  how),  the  diphthong  ou  or  ow  is  still  pronounced 

13 


14  CHAUCER'S  PRONTTNCIATTON. 

with  an  0  or  Q  sound  (though  68,  sowed  685,  thoughte  385). 
Dr  Sweet's  text  also  helps  the  learner  by  leaving  the  long 
vowel  ou  unmarked  (thou)  and  jjrinting  the  diphthong  with 
an  o  before  gh  (thogh)  and  with  a  diacritical  mark  over  or 
under  the  o  in  other  situations  (growen,  sgule). 

NoTic.  {(i)  lii'forc  i,^1i,  (1)  t lie  vowel  u  is  idmost  uiii rurinly 
written  ou  (ynou^'li  <S88)  4^:57;  and  {'i)  u  is  written  o  (drof^iite 
3)  iJTiind  J52c;  but  (3)  the  dipiithong  ou  iswrittRU  not  only  ou 
(thouichte  ."{So),  but  frecpieutly  o  (o<^hte  6(i()),  and  tiiis  spi^lliiij;- 
is  uniformly  employed  by  Sweet  to  avoid  confusion  witii  (!) 
al)ove;  ^(i  o.  (b)  Before  n  the  u  of  ou  =  li  is  often  omitted 
(s(;son  10,  nacions  o.'i),  or  indicated  only  by  a  mark  over  the 
n  (rt^soiT  Condi eiofi  ;{?). 

(/))  The  letter  u  (initially  v,  §  2  f)  was,  in  accordance  with 
French  usage,  often  retained  for  short  //,  especially  in  closed 
syllables:  ful  22,  but  74,  vnto  71,  lusty  (cf.  however^  below); 
but  it  was  also  used  for  the  sound  of  "u"  in  French  "just", 
"nature,"  &c.,  and  is  printed  by  Sweet  ii  (in  imitation  of  Ger- 
man it)  when  short,  il  (il  would  have  been  better)  when  long, 
and  11  when  it  had  acquired  the  sound  of  eu,  §  4  N\ 

(r)  As  i  (vvliich  was  generally  not  dotted)  and  u  might 
easily  cause  confusion  when  written  next  other  letters  made 
of  similar  short  straight  lines  (for  ex.,  n,  m,  w,  u  =  v),  the 
French  usage  of  writing  o  for  u  and  y  for  i  in  such  (and  some 
other)  situations  was  adopted  (Sweet  prints  such  an  o  with 
a  curl  above  it,  o,  to  suggest  a  u) :  yonge  sonne  7,  worthy  43, 
loued  45,  somtyme  65,  bismotered  76,  observe  louyere  80 
but  lusty  in  the  same  line;  also  coraji-es  it,  coppe  134,  cosyn 
1234,  s6per34S;  veyne  3,  nyght  10,  nyne  24,  wyde  28,  tyme  35, 
but  usually,  "w^"  (=with)  31,  "in"  6.  Similarly,  I  is  some- 
times used  for  i  next  nn:  Inne  1618,  w*'  Inne  'within'  1669. 
(d)  The  letter  y  was  also  used  for  i  initially  (i)  as  a  capi- 
tal in  proper  names:  ypocras  431,  ypres  448,  ypolita  1685, 
and  (2)  in  participles:  yronne  8,  ywroght  196,  ybore  378.  (e) 
The  letters  y  and  w  were  often  used  for   i   and    u,    especially 


GENERAL   REMARKS   ON   ME.    SPELLING,    .tc.  15 

finally  and  next  other  vowels:  ^uery  3,  melodye  9,  day  19, 
felaweshipe  26,  yow  38,  vnknovve  126,  trowe  155;  also  next 
n,  m,  w,  u  =  V,  &c.:  veyne  3,  Lyeys  58,  slayn  63,  knyght 
43,  wyped  133,  ferthyng  134,  pleyynge  1061,  lyuen  335;  and 
elsewhere:  bawdryk  116,  tretys  152. 

(/)  The  letter  v  was  used  initially  for  v  and  the  vowel  u: 
veyne  3,  verray  338,  venerie  166,  Venus  1918,  vertrt  4,  vil- 
eynye  70,  victorie  872,  vnder  106,  vs  411,  vnto  225,  vpon 
1036,  &c.;  while  u  was  used  medially  for  both  sounds: 
Query  3,  deuout  22,  deuyse  34,  hane  35,  reuerence  305, 
lyuen  335,  &c.  Medial  v  is  rare  in  the  E  Ms:  fiventure  25, 
QverychQn  31,  avarice  246,  envjned  342,  &c.  Cf.  note  to 
k  below,  (yg)  The  letter  I  was  used  not  only  as  a  capital 
i:  I  34,  It  155,  &c.,  (cf.  also  c  end);  but  also  for  the  con- 
sonant j,  both  small  and  capital:  liilifin  34,  luste  96,  lerusa- 
l^m  463,  langlere  560,  lalous  1329,  Ifipes  705,  &c.  J  and  i 
for  j  are  rare  in  the  E  Ms:  Juno  1329,  iaped  1729. 

Note. — The  fact  that  j  occurred  only   initially  and   that 

initial  v  was  in  fact  much  more  frccjucntly  a  consonant  than 

a  vowel  (see  the  examples  above)  led  to  their  coniiiiele  ditfer- 

entiation  ('"v"  and   "j"   consonants,    "u"  and   "i"'    vowels); 

this   ditferentiation  is  also  made   by   Sweet   in    his  Second 

Mi(Mh-E}i(iUsh  Primer  and  generally  by  Skeat. 

(//)   To  distinguish  the  open    long  e  and  o  from   the  close, 

it  is  customary  to  print  the  former  (j  and  o  and   the   latter  e 

and  0.      It  will,  thus,    be   observed   that   not   only  a   straight 

mark   above  a  vowel,  but  also  a  hook  under  it,   indicates  a 

long  vowel,  but  the  hook  also  shows  that  the  vowel  is  open. 

If,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  long  vowel  is  doubled   in   the   Ms, 

there  is  no  need  of  a  long  mark  over  it:  degree  40,  to  doon 

78;  but  the  hook  is  necessary  if  the  vowel  is  open:   brtj^th  5, 

gQQn  12.      In  the   MSS  and  an   unmarked   text   like   Skeat's, 

both  o  and  00   may   stand    for  o  or  q,  the  doubling  showing 

only  that  the  vowel  is  long,  and  being  only  occasionally  used. 

(/)   In  OF  "g"  was  pronounced  dj  before  front  vowels  (e, 


i6  CHAUCER'S  PIKWUNCIATION. 

i  or  y),  and  this  pronunciation  was  taken  up  into  ME  and  is 
still  retained;  the  learner  must  not  be  misled  into  using  in 
ME  the  changed  pronunciation  of  M"F.  The  letter  j  had 
the  same  pronunciation.  (/-)  Similarly,  "ch"  had  in  OF,  as 
well  as  in  ME  and  M"E,  the  sound  of  //,  and  lost  the  /  only 
in  M"F.  M"E  has  more  or  less  generally  changed  the  pro- 
nunciation of  a  few  of  these  words  under  the  influence  of 
M"F  usage,  for  ex.,  chivalry;  but  the  student  of  ME  must 
take  particular  pains  to  preserve  ch  as  in  English  chip.  (/) 
He  must  also  avoid  bringing  into  ME  the  French  nasal  vow- 
els for  vowel  -f-  n  or  m;  the  most  successful  ME  attempt  at  im- 
itating what  there  was  of  this  in  OF  seems  to  have  been  the 
au  for  nasal  a  in  straunge  13,  acordaunt  37,  Alisaundre  51, 
daunce  96,  dx. 


THE  PKONUNCIATION  OF  THE  VOWELS. 


§3.  a  was  as  in  artistic:  Whan  that  Aprille  i. 
a  was  as  in  art:  bathed  3,  smale  9. 
ai  or  ay  was  as  in  aisle:  day  19,  c5mpaignye  24. 
au  or  aw  was  as  in  sauerkraut:  straunge    13,   lawe  309. 

§4.  e  was  as  in  men:  yet  70,   twenty  82. 

Note  1.  Unstressed  e  was  pronounced  as  in  German,  or 
nearly  like  final  a  in  M"  E  (for  ex.,  in  idea)  but  weaker: 
soote  1,  perced  2,  engendred  4.  The  sound  is  printed  d  in 
books  on  phonetics.  It  was.  in  fact,  so  weak  already  in  ME 
times  that  it  g'enerally  became  quite  silent  in  certain  situ- 
ations, cf.  i^"3:l. 

e  was  as  in  ///n'*:  swGte  5,  slepen. 

Note  2. — So  too  e,  C,  or  <;  preceded  or  followed  by  i  or  y 
(ie*,  ye,  5i,  ey,  ^i,  &c.):  chief  1057,  they  IS,  curteisle  4(5. 
But  ie  often  =  i  -f  a,  or  i.,  when  final  in  French  words,  §  18,5;  it 
=  i  +  e  in  science  31(5,  pacient  415,  &c.;  and  consonantal  %  -(- 
a  in  other  cases,  cf.  ^^5  27. 
^  was  as  in  there:   br^ijth  5,  w^^ren  ^sed  29. 


*  Really  P,  ie,  or  yi!  were  the  lonj;-.  close  e-vowel,  whilr  ei,  Gi,  Qi 
were  diphthongs  ending  in  i.  In  M^  E  all  are  pronounced  as  a  diph- 
thong (  most  distinctly  so  in  southern  England,  about  Philadelphia, 
&c.)  or  all  are  pronounc(-(l  a  puree-vowel  (so  in  Scotland  and  the  larger 
part  of  the  U.  S.,  at  least  when  not  over-long,  §  14  Note  1);  and  it  is 
hardly  practicable  to  make  general  students  distinguish  the  vowel 
from  the  diphthong  in  reading  ME. 

2  17 


1 8  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

Note  3. — This  sound  occurs  only  before  r  in  M"  E  and  will 
require  attention  in  other  positions  in  ME.     It  is  practically 
the  sound  of   "e"   in  met  prolonged.     Cf.  §2/1.     The   poet 
sometimes  rimes  it  with  P,  cf.  §0. 
ei,  ey,  &c.,  Note  2. 

Su  or  ^u  =  <?  -f-  ^>  now  common  for  a  -\-  u  a.s  a.  dialectic 
pronunciation  of  "ow"  in  c(77if  &c.:  r5ule  173,  f5we  639, 
sh(jwe  C  55. 

Note  4. — Care  must  be  taken  not  to  substitute  iu  or  u  for 
this  sound,  as  in  M^E.  It  is  most  readily  acquired  by  put- 
ting one's  self  in  the  mood  of  mocking  one  who  uses  the 
dialectic  pronunciation  mentioned  above;  the  standard  aw  in 
cow  is  not  the  sound. 

Note  5. — The  same  sound  is  to  be  given  to  u  (also  written 
eu,  and  printed  u  by  Sweet,  %2  b)  in  an  open  syllable  in 
French  words:  vertu  4,  vertuous  251,  letiiaries  420,  Ih^sii 
689. 

§5.1  or  y  was  as  in  pin:  Aprille  with  hise  i. 

I  or  y  was  as  in  tnachitu:  inspired  6,  I  20,  my  21. 

Note. — Skeat  generally  prints  y  for  the  long  vowel  and  i 
for  the  short,  except  in  diphthongs. 

For  ie,  &c.,  cf.  §  4,  Note  2.  For  unstressed  i  or  y  before 
a  vowel  cf.  §  37. 

§6.  o  was  as  in  the  New  England  dialectic  pronunciation  of 
boat,  road,  stone,  &c.,  or  like  5  in  German,  French,  &c. , 
not  like  M^E  "short  o":  of  2,  holt  6,  croppes  7. 
For  o(gh)  cf.  0;  for  6  cf,  ^  7. 
0  was  as  in  ;/<?*:  another  66,  tO  doon  78.  So  too  o 
or  ou  before  gh  (§  2 «  Note),  and  0  or  q  with  following  u 
or   w*:  though   68,   dQugh,   cough,   trough,   noght   768,   and 


*  Really  5  was  the  long  close  o-vowel;  while  o(u)  before  gh  and  Ou 
and  Qu  were  diphthongs  ending  in  u.  MnE  has  the  long  o-vowel  or 
the  diphthong  for  both  (cf.  §  14,  Note  1),  and  it  is  hardly  practicable 
to  try  to  distinguish  the  ME  vowel  from  the  diphthong  in  ordinary 
classes. 


THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  THE  VOWELS.  19 

verbs  like  foughten  62,   thoughte    385,   oghte  660,    (a)boght 
wroght  3099;   iQwely  99,  sOwed  685. 

Q  was  as  in  broad:  spQken  ^verychQn  31,   mo  sqq  102. 
Cf.  §  2  h. 

oi  or  oy  was  as  in  boy:  point  114,  coy  119. 
<5u,  Qw,  &c.,   cf.  0.     For  ou  =  long  u,   cf.   below. 
§7.  u  or  w,  also  5  (§  2  c^,  was  as  in  put:  ful  22,  duseyne  578, 
yelw,  y5nge  s6nne  7,   drQghte  2,   dSghty,   but  cf.  \  2a  Note. 
For  li  cf,  J;  4,  Note  5. 

ouorow  was  as  in   soup:    houndes  146,  sownynge  275, 
Plowman  529;   before  gh  (§  2  a  Note)  in  ynough  888,  Plough 
887,  bough  1980,  swough  1979,  slough,   tough. 
For  Ou  Qr  cf.  ^  G  5. 

§8.  ii  was  as  in   German  piuUcr*,   or  short   French  "u": 
briistles  556,  liistice  314,  siister  1820. 

u  or  ui  was  as  in  German  grittt*,  or  long  French  "u": 
natflre  11,  entuned  123,  cilrious  196,  iQian  340, 

y  =  i,  §  5- 

Note. — It  may  be  well  to  point  out  the  chief  difticulties 
that  the  student  will  meet  in  pronouncing  the  ME  vowels: 
(a)  Short  0  may  be  to  him  a  new  and  difficult  sound  (§6), 
and  he  will  have  to  remember  that  Sweet's  symbol  6  =  short 
u  and  not  short  0  (§7).  The  vowel  U,  too,  is  often  found  dif- 
ficult to  master  (§  8  and  ft.  nt.).  (b)  After  learning  the  values 
of  the  ME  vowels,  he  will  still  be  prone  to  admit  certain 
M^E  modifications,  for  ex.,  to  round  the  vowel  a  next  1  or  w 
{t^20),  and  to  sound  e,  i,  and  u,  before  r  as  in  M^E  (§19  6). 
(c)  He  will  want  to  sound  eu  as  to-day,  or  substitute  au  (as 
in  cow;)  for  ew  (g4  N*  and  Preface  p.  4).  (d)  After  learning 
the  correct  pronunciation  of  long  a,  e,  i,  he  will  be  apt  to  use 
it  for  short  a,  e,  i,  though  thus  departing  from  both  ME  and 


*  Ger.  oriitt  and  ^UtUcv  are  like  Eng.  green  and  miller,  but  the  lips 
are  nearly  closed— or  "rounded" — during  the  formation  of  the  vowel. 


CHAUCER'S   PRONUNCIATION. 

M"E  usage,  (e)  He  will  be  apt  to  confound  ai  ay  with  ei 
ey  (§15  N  and  Preface  p.  4),  and  o  with  o  (§6,  2h,  and  Pre- 
face p.  4).  (/)  One  is  most  apt  l,o  be  careless  with  un- 
stressed syllables,  for  example,  to  say  tu  do  for  to  do. 


IMPEKFJ^XT  RIMES,  &c. 


§  9.  Chaucer  was  a  careful  rimer  but  allowed  himself  cer- 
tain liberties. 

1)  The  open  sounds  occasionally  rimed  with  the  close, 
and  the  spelling  was  usually  changed  to  suit:  yeer  soper  347, 
weel  def^l  367,  l^ne  ysene  &c.  591,  660,  twQ  du  1039"^,  mq 
to  2725,  anon  ydOn  1025,  S^e  be  60,  speche  t^che  307,  dog- 
gere  sp^re  113.  Similarly,  ai  and  ei  are  occasionally  rimed, 
and  ai  had  doubtless  begun  to  approach  ei  in  popular  pro- 
nunciation (the  spelling  generally  rimes  too):  way  (for  wey) 
day  i4i'3,  1481,  &c.,  agayn  playn  (for  pleyn)  1092,  pleyn 
ageyn  (for  agayn)  1488,  but  agayn  slayn  1741.  And  there 
are  other  impure  rimes:  al  sendal  440,  wel  catel  540,  moneye 
tw5ye  703,  fynde  Inde  P.  75.  Different  consonants  are  rarely 
joined  in  rime:  sSuith  SignificSuit  662. 

2)  The  pronunciation,  and  usually  the  orthography,  of 
foreign  names  was  fearlessly  twisted  to  make  it  rime  with 
native  words  or  suit  the  metre:  thus,  usually  Palamoun  1070, 
1341,  &c.,  but  often  Palamgn  1014,  21 18,  &c.;  Emely^e  871, 
but  EmeTya  1078;  A^th5n(e)s  873,  Athe'n(e)s  1194,  A^thgnes 
973;    Perothe'us    1202,    but    P(e)r0^theus    1205    'Pirithous'. 

3)  Diversity  of  usage  in  pronunciation  was  put  to  use  for 
the  same  purpose:   usually  y^ue  223,   but  in  rime   yiue   225, 


*  "Two"  must  still  have  had  q  :  iu  the  Knight's  Tale  "two"  rimes 
with  o  not  more  than  twice  (1039  and  perhaps  1705)  but  with  q  at 
least  13  times.  Thus  1039  and  (?)  1705  are  impure  rimes  like  dO  SQ 
1195,  doon  ^chqn,  anQn,  gQQn  2C55,  1025,  2675,  2963,  tO  mq  2725. 

21 


22  CHAUCER'S   PRONUNCIATION. 

505;  usually  koude  130,  but  in  rime  kouthe  390;  usually 
grQue  1478,  1481,  1505,  (!s:c.,  in  rime  gr^ue  1495,  '5°7>  "S:c.; 
there  being  a  dearth  of  rimes  for  "live",  "grove",  &c.  Reg- 
ularly ngnes  but  ncjnys  to  rime  with  non  is  523. 


THE  QUANTITY  OF  VOWELS. 


§  lo.     The  quantity  of  the  OE  vowels   remained   the  same 
in  ME  except  that  — 

i)   Vowels  in    stressed   open*  syllables  became  long:  mil- 
ken  9,  Qpen  lo,  hare  191,  m^te  127,  sp^ke  462. 

Note  1. — The  high  vowels  i  and  u  (§1)  generally  remain 
short:  c5me  23,  w6ne  s6ne  335,  pp.  write  161  (the  infinitive 
had  original  I,  96)  riden  48,  c6men  671,  prikyng  191,  16uede 
444,  lyue  583.  As  final -e  in  these  cases  was  silent  (§23,4), 
the  i,  u,  was  in  a  closed  syllable. 

Note  2. —  (a)  Often  the  inflection  or  use  of  a  word  presents 
some  open*  and  some  closed  syllables  and  consequently  both 
long  and  short  vowels:  smSle  9,  smal  153.  (6)  If  the  closed 
syllable  constitutes  a  monosyllable,  it  sometimes  prevails, 
that  is,  the  vowel  remains  short  throughout  and  the 
following  consonant  is  doubled  before  another  vowel:  god 
1665,  goddess  1800,  goddesse  1904.  (c)  If  the  closed  syl- 
lable is  in  a  word  of  more  than  one  syllable  (particularly 
words  ending  in  1,  n,  r,  and  i  or  y),  the  closed  syllable  or  the 
open  prevails  according  as  the  one  or  the  other  happened  to 
be  most  in  use  in  each  particular  case;  usually  it  was  the 
closed  syllable  that  prevailed:  many  QQn  317  but,  with  con- 
sonantal y,  many  a  60,  212,  &c.,  so  bisy  a  321,  bisier  322, 
studie  303,  438,  berye  merye  208,  bod^yes  942,  944,  but 
body^es  997.  But  the  open  syllable  and  long  vowel  prevailed 
in  Qpen  10,  ^vene  83,  &c.  (d)  Occasional!}'  a  long  vowel  is 
shortened  under  the  same  circumstances:  crIst  698,  but 
cristen  55. 


*  A  syllable  that  ends  in  a  vowel  is  called  an  Opeji  Syllable;  one 
that  ends  in  a  consonant,  a  Closed  Syllable.  A  single  consonant  be- 
longs to  the  following  syllable.  Open  syllables:  tO  the  roo-te  (but  the 
and  -te  are  unstressed);  closed  syllables:  of  March  hath  per-ced. 

23 


24  CHAUCER'S    PRONUNCIATION. 

2)  A  long  vowel  in  a  closed*  syllable  usually  became  short 
if  another  consonant  was  added:  wys  68,  but  wysdom  865, 
cltjne  i_:;3,  but  dense  631;  still  mental  association  could 
nullify  this  rule:  citjnnesse  506. 

*cr.  It.  III.  p.  -jn. 


RELATION  OF  ME.  A  OWELS  TO  M"E.  VOWELS. 


§11.  English  has  always  shown  a  greater  tendency  to 
change  the  sound  of  its  vowels  than  to  change  that  of  its  con- 
sonants; consequently  the  pronunciation  of  the  ME  vowels 
differs  more    than   that  of   ME   consonants   does  from    M"E 

GENERAL  CHANGES. 

§12.  The  general  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the 
pronunciation  of  English  vowels  since  ME  times  may  be 
briefly  stated  as  follows.  Observe  that  the  ME  spelling  is 
often  retained  in  M°E. 

Short  Yowels. 
§  13.      a  >  ce:   man  43,  bigan  44. 

e  remains  e:  yet  70;  wente  78. 
/  "       / :   in  19,  riden  48. 

u  >   v.  Caunterbilry  27,  silbtilly  610. 
u  usually  >  v.  Vnder   105,    l5ued    45,    ffustiJln    75; 
but  often  remains  u  between  a  labial  consonant  and  1:   ful  22 
wolf  513. 

o  >   y  or  a:   on  21,  of   54,  for  13,  God  533. 

Long  Vowels. 

§  14.      iX   >   (■  or  c/  (spelled  "a"):   bathed  3,  pale  205. 

(^  &  ^  >    /or />•  (spelled   "e",   "ee",    or   "ea"):  m6 
^ch  39,  slSues  93. 

i  >  a/  (spelled  "i"  or  "y"):  riden  45,  thy  1283. 
il  (printed  n  by  Sweet  when  not  written   ui  or  uy)   > 

tu  or  mw  :   Itlce  350,  suyte  2873. 

25 


26  CHAUCER'S   PRONUNCIATION. 

tl  (spelled  on  or  ow)  >  air.  out  45,   oure  62,   gowne  93, 
how  284. 

o  (§  2h  end)  >   ir.  bootes  203,  to  do  942. 

^  (§  2h  end)  >  o  or  ou:  Qpen  10,  SQ  11,  shQQn  198. 

Note  1  —  In  other  words,  there  is  little  chanp:e  in  the  short 
vowels,  while  all  the  long  vowels  have  changed  and  tend  to 
become  diphthongs,  especially  in  England,  the  long  vowels 
(particularly  I  and  u,  not  so  generally  5  and  0)  still  being 
common  in  Scotland  and  the  United  States.  Cf.  p.  17  ft. 
nt.,  p.  18  ft.  nt. 

Note  2. —  Observe  particularly  that  ME  0  >  MnE  n 
(though  still  spelled  "o"  or  "00"),  and  ME  (^  >  MnE  o 
(spelled  "oa"  or  "o-e").  The  word  q  or  Qn  'one'  and  all  its 
derivatives  have  the  vowel  q,  though  their  M^E  equivalents 
show  various  irregularities:  q  304,  qqn  317,  uQQn  210,  anQn 
32,  allQne  1633,  QQnly  1373. 

Diphthong-s. 

§15  «;/ and  ei  >  e  or  ei:  mayde  69,  gay  74,  grSye  152, 
deyntee  168,  seint  173. 

<?/ remains  oi:  point  114,   oystre  182. 

au  >  q,:  ytaught  127,  sauce  129,  drawe  396. 

eu  (or  il)  and  ii  >  iti  or  itnu:  newe,  i76,rSule  173,  Mti- 
we  349,  vertnous  515,  statnre  83,  Jtllian  340. 

oil  >  0  or  ou:  though  68,  bQwe  108,  grOwe  156, 

Note. —  Observe  that  ai  and  ei,  though  now  pronounced 
alike,  were  distinguished  in  ME;  in  fact,  we  now  sometimes 
write  "ai"  or  "ay"  for  "ei":  feith  02,  seint  173,  streit  174. 
Observe  also  that  ME  au  was  a  phonetic  spelling,  as  in  Latin 
and  German,  and  had  not  yet  gotten  the  vowel  sound  it  has 
in  MnE. 

For  e,  0,  iu,  or  ei,  on,  iuio,  see  §14  Note  1. 

SPECIFIC  CHANGES. 

§  16.  There  are  many  less  general  changes,  that  is,  such 
as  effect  only  a  number  of  the  words  containing  a  certain 
vowel;  but  it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  point  out  more 
than  three  or  four  of  the  most  important. 


RELATION  OF  ME.  VOWELS  TO  U^E.  VOWELS.         27 

§  17.  Vowels  in  closed*  syllables  (and,  by  analogy,  in  re- 
lated open  ones),  are  sometimes  shortened,  particularly  be- 
fore dentals,  that  is,  consonants  made  with  the  tip  of  the 
tongue  (d,  t,  th,  n):  br^^d  d^^d  147,  st^de  231,  r^^de  90,  hood 
103,  wood  good  183,  blood  635;  br^^th  5,  d^^th  but  h^^th 
605,  seith  178,  seyde  219,  dooth  171;  hQQte  97,  leet  128; 
MOnthe  92,  wjnd  170,  after  r  in  fr^^nd  299  but  not  f^^nd; 
heeld  176;  book  185,  look  289,  took  303.  Observe  the 
shortening  of  0  before  -ther:  another  66,  brother  529;  and 
of  Q  before  -ng:  iQnge  93,  strqng  239. 

§  18.  Lack  of  stress  gives  rise  to  slurred  forms  by  the  side 
of  the  full  ones:  my  21  now  strong  »mi  and  weak  mi  or  ma; 
sometimes  one  (often  the  weak)  form  prevails:  been  85,  strong 
din  in  England,  weak  din  in  America:  sayde  70,  generally 
weak  sed;  you  34,  the  strong  ju  >  jau  in  early  M°E  as  thou 
>  thau  §14,  but  weak  you  C  108  (=y«/;)  supplanted  strong 
jau,  and  when  it  was  stressed  it  got  a  long  vowel  ju  (now 
often  ill),  that  is, "the  very  pronunciation  the  ME  strong  form 
had;  in  koude  94  the  weak  u  has  prevailed;  observe  weak 
have  with  ce,  but  stressed  behave  with  ?;  any  and  many  now 
have  e  but  stressed  manifold  has  the  regular  ce. 

Note. — If  a  syllable  that  was  or  might  be  stressed  in  ME 
is  now  unstressed,  its  vowel  is  not  what  would  be  expected 
by  §§  13-15,  but  usually  the  obscure  vowel  a:  licour  3,  men- 
cioun  893,  fr5dOm  4G,  SquIGr  97,  licenciSt  220,  visage  109. 

§  19.  The  sound  r  has  always  much  affected  preceding 
vowels;  the  chief  cases  are: — 

(rt)  Before  r  and  another  consonant,  e  >  a,  later  a  (cf.  b 
below):  sterue  1144,  darknesse  1451,  hertely  762,  ferther  36, 
ferthyng  255,  sterres  268,  yerde  smerte  268,  Dertemouthe 
389,  werre  47,  see  2  and  {e). 

*Cf.  ft.  nt.  p.  33. 


28         RELATION  OF  ME.  VOWELS  TO  M"E,  VOWELS. 

Note. — In  most  classical  words  the  e  was  retained  or  re- 
stored, and  later  (according  to  b  bf^low)  changed  to  5:  seruod 
187,  certe\-n  375,  mercy,  950,  sennvnts  101.  But  evfii  in 
these  cases  the  rule  (e  >  a)  prevailed  among  the  uneducated; 
and  in  a  few  usage  varies,  so  Sergeant  3C9,  Clerk  285,  &c., 
while  we  distinguish  between  "parson"  (person  '178)  and  "per- 
son" (persQne  521). 

(d).     Before  r  (but  see  note  above)  — 

a  >    a:  Arm  393,  barre  1075,  and  those  in  (a). 

at,    ei   (and  sometimes  ^)  >    (^r   faire   94,  preyeres   231, 

tli<jr  34,  er  255. 

c,  i,  II,  il  >  i  :  serued  187  (cf.  note  above),  first  44,  cur- 

teisle  46,  purchas  256,  worthy  47,   world  176,    Silrgerye  413. 

Note. — But  if  there  is  no  consonant  other  than  y  before  a 
following  vowel,  the  a  regularly  (§  13)  becomes  oe:  carie  130, 
mariSge  212:  and  e  remains  e:  berye  merye  207. 

[c)  Observe  the  abnormal  M»E  vowel  after  r  in  brggd 
^55-  gr^^t  203. 

§  20.  A  following  /  and  a  preceding  w  have  in  many  cases 
rounded  the  vowel  a  ox  a  \o  j  ox  <?:  smale  9,  al  10,  yfalle  25, 
palfrey  207,  was  43,  what  40,  werre  47  [e  had  become  a  by 
(a)  above),  so  were  555.  Be  very  careful  not  to  introduce 
this  pronunciation  into  ME. 

§  21.  The  standard  form  of  to-day  is  not  always  the  regu- 
lar descendant  of  the  form  usual  in  Chaucer,  but  has  been 
changed  for  some  special  cause  or  is  a  dialectic  variant;  hence 
the  form  shown  by  the  modern  word  is  not  what  would  be 
expected  by  §§  13-15:  g^te  291,  snewed  345,  trOuthe  46, 
embrQuded  89,  bar  105,  gretteste  120,  lenger  330,  heng  160, 
y^ue  223  (Chaucer  uses  yiue  for  a  rime  225). 


THE  LOSS  OF  VOWELS. 


§  22.  An  unstressed  vowel  may  be  lost,  particularly  if  next 
another  vowel  or  a  weaklv  stressed  s viable.  This  is  most  apt 
to  happen  to  the  unstressed  vowel  that  is  i)roduced  with  least 
displacement  of  the  tongue,  namely  .;,  written  e  in  ME  as  in 
German,  of.  §  4  Note  i. 

Note. — Words  that  only  occasionally  lose  final  e,  retain  it. 
at  the  end  of  a  verse;  the  student  vi'ill  need  to  exercise  special 
caution  in  this  matter. 

Loss  of  Weak  E. 

§23.  Unstressed  e  is  generally  silent  under  the  following 
circumstances: — 

i)  When  two  adjoining  syllables  contain  weak  e,  one  e 
only  is  sounded:  loaed(e)  i66,  semecKe)  39,  bismot(e)red  or 
-er(e)d  76,  feth(e)res  107,  fyng[e]res  129,  neufe)re  or 
neuer(e)  70,  \vedded[e]  868  (cf.  ten  Brink  top  p.  140;  th^r 
has  evidently  been  lost  before  the  "the"). 

2)  After  an  unstressed  syllable  that  may  bear  the  stress: 
pilgrim(e)s  26,  ma'ner[e]  71  but  mane^re  140.  (In  bod'yes 
942,  944,  &c.,  i  or  y  is  consonantal  and  not  syllabic,  cf. 
§  32.)      Similarly  after  secondary  stress:   shirreu(e)  359. 

3)  In  words  that  ordinarily  have  little  stress,  for  ex.,  pre- 
positions, possessives,  demonstratives,  auxiliary  verbs,  &c.  : 
befor(e),  th^r(e),  h^r(e),  his(e)  i,  our(e)  34,  hir(e)  139,  and 
the  other  possessives,  swich(e)  (unless  adjective  plural)  and 
which(e)  (unless  adjective  plural  or  after  "'the")  40,  57S,  and 

2D 


30  CHAUCER'S   PRONUNCIATION. 

s6m{e)  and  this(e)  701,  2570;  regularly  w^r(e)  23,  n^rfe)  875, 
often  liau(e)  35,  <SS6,  hadd(e)  64,  146  (but  hadde  164,  Sec), 
koud(e)  130  (but  koude  95). 

4)  When  final  in  words  having  a  short  high  vowel  (i,  u)  fol- 
lowed by  a  single  consonant:  son(e),  w6n(e)  1040,  often 
l5u(e),  and  the  past  participles  driu(e),  writ(e),  c5m(e)  77, 
Ike.  (but  also  driiien,  comen  671,  &c.);  usually  sounded  in 
infinitive  c5me,  yiue  for  yiuen,  &c. 

5)  Usually  in  French  words  ending  in  stressed  -ye,  -aye, 
-eye,  &c.:  vileynj(e)  70,  curteisl(e)  132,  remedi(e)s  475,  but 
fantasye  FA  51,  and  probably  not  at  the  end  of  a  verse:  mel- 
odye  9,  scOleye  302,  iVc.      For  unstressed  -ye  cf.  §  27. 

6)  In  the  ending  -en  after  a  vowel  or  1  or  r:  yshorn  589, 
bgrn  87,  woln,  han,  leyn,  slayn  63,  &c. 

7)  Occasionally  medially:  usually  sGraely  123,  136,  occa- 
sionally seem(e)ly  751  and  always  seemliest,  usually  nathe- 
Itj^s  35,  2472,  and  trewely  761,  1268,  &c.,  but  trgw(e)ly  481, 
&c.,  also  lyu(e)ree  363,  sou(e)reyn  67,  nam(e)ly  1268.  The 
medial  <?  is  always  silent  in  for(e}ward  829,  eu(e)ry  3,  6,  15, 
&c.,  and  usually  in  ^u(e)rich  241. 

8)  Occasionally  in  other  cases,  where  the  metre  requires 
its  silence,  especially  before  a  weak  syllable  followed  by  a 
heavily  stressed  one:  lou(e)d  for  l5ued(e)  before  weak  pro- 
nouns 206,  334,  &c.,  bel6u(e)d  and  215,  l5u(e)st  my  1581, 
fall(e)th  nat  1669,  ngbUe)  ensample  496,  delyu(e)r(e)  and  84, 
pgpKe  h)is  apes  706,  Qu(e)r  al  th^r  249,  547,  ^u(e)r  (h)g  kan 
588,  622;  also  gown(e)  93,  tjm(e)  102,  &c. 

9)  Before  a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel  (a  silent  h  is,  of 
course,  not  counted),  final  e  is  elided:  see  the  examples  in 
lines  382-3,  also  morw{e)  a  334,  Aristotl(e)  and  295,  festn(e 
h)is  195,  ordr(e  h)e  214,  220,  Alisaundr(e  h6)  51  (in  tendre 
herte  150  and  the  like,  the  h  is  stressed  and  not  silent,  and 
the  -e  is  therefore  not  elided),  fith(e)l(e)  or  296,  ^u(e)r(e  h)is 
335»  343»  &c. 


THE  LOSS  OF  VOWELS.  31 

(a)  The  -e  of  ne  'not'  (for  ne  'neither'  see  §  24)  was  always 
elided:  N(e)  I  n(e)  axe  2239,  nys  901,  I  nam  1122,  n(e  h)ath 
923,  and  with  lost  w:  n^re  875,  nas,  n(e  w)6lde  550.  (^) 
The -e  of  'the'  was  almost  always  elided:  th(e)  Usage  no, 
thilke  182,  thencr^fjs  275,  &c.;  the  -e  of  the  'thee'  occasion- 
ally, cf.  §  24. 

Other  Cases  of  Loss  of  VoweL 

§  24.  i)  Occasionally  the  final  vowel  of  a  weakly  stressed 
monosyllable  was  elided  before  another  (especially  an  un- 
stressed) vowel:  m(e)  awr^ke  C  11,  t((5)  abyden  927,  t(5 
h)ave  2239.  The  S  of  ne  'neither'  is  usually  retained:  n6  of 
estaat  ne  age  2592;   but  it  may  be  elided. 

2)  The  i  of  weak  "is"  was  frequently  dropped,  especially 
after  "that"  and  "this",  as  in  M^E:  that  (i)s  180,  thi(s  i)s 
1091,  pouerte  (i)s  C  35.      Similarly,   it  =  I  it  829. 

3)  A  weak  vowel  is  apt  to  fall  out,  especially  if  preceded 
and  followed  by  the  same  consonant:  in  (a)nOther  1401, 
th(e)  thrQte  2458;  par(i)sshe  491  (but  parisshe  494),  pos(i)- 
tif  1167,  the  Latin  Si(g)n(i)ficauit  662,  usually  ben(e)d(i)- 
citee  2115  (but  benedicite  1785),  always  Ier(u)sal^m  463. 
Observe  Caun^terb(ll)ry  16,  22,  with  silent  ii  and  stress  as  in 
present  British  English,  but  Caun''terbirry  27  with  ii  and 
American  stress. 


THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  THE  CONSONANTS. 


§25.  In  general  the  consonants  were  pronounced  in  ME 
as  in  M"E;  it  will  be  most  necessary  to  observe  the  follow- 
ing points  in  learning  ME  pronunciation. 

c. 

§  26.  As  in  M°  E,  c  was  back  (or  gutteral),  =  k,  before 
consonants  and  back  vowels  (a,  o,  q  u):  crulle  81,  acordaunt 
37,  caas  585,  curteisie  132;  and  front  (or  palatal),  =  s'^ ,  be- 
fore front  vowels  (e,  i  or  y) :  space  puce  36,  Prtlce  53,  cer- 
tainly 235,  Maunciple  567.  For  ci  -f  vowel,  see  §  32  Note. 
So  sc  before  a  front  vowel  (probably  also  in  sclendre  587) 
was  sounded  s:  science  316,  conscience  142,  cf.  §  32  Note. 

ch. 

§  27.  Old-English  c  before  old  front  vowels  had  also  be- 
come palatal  and  was  sounded  tf  (similarly  Latin  c  in  some 
cases);  as  this  sound  was  written  "ch"  in  French  (chiualrie 
45,  Chapeleyne  164),  it  was  also  written  ch  in  native  E^nglish 
words:  ^verycliQn  31,  whiche  40,  swich  43.  Double  ch  was 
written  cch:   recchel^^s  179,  wrecche  931. 

ME  cli  must  npvt-r  bo.  pronounced/,  oi'  like  Eiii,^lish  sh,  as  is  dono 
in  M"F,  cf.  §2  k;  nor  like  k. 


*This  s-sound  of  c  occurs  only  in  I'^i-fnch  words;  Latin  c  befon^ 
front  vowels  became  palatal,  tliis  became  i.s  (as  still  in  German)  and 
this  became  s  (as  in  French  and  English). 

32 


THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  THE  CONSONANTS.         33 

g- 

§  28.  1)  ME,  like  M°E,  g  was  regularly  front  (or  pala- 
tal), that  is,=^tfj,  as  in  gin,  when  before  a  front  vowel 
(e,  i  or  y)  in  a  word  from  the  French:  gentil  72,  gypoun  75, 
Age  82,  barge  410,  habergeoun  76  (in  which  the  e  is  silent); 
also  in  some  native  words;  sengen,  egge,  FA  19,  &c.  This  g 
Sweet  prints  with  a  dot  above  it,  to  suggest  j. 

2)  Elsewhere  g  was  back  (or  guttural),  like  g  in  go  — 
French:  glQrie  870,  gCuernyng  599;  English:  God  533,  gQQn 
450,  Syngynge  91,  gesse  82,  bigynne  428,  gr^ce  135,  drOgges 
426,  legges  591,  daggere  392.  The  g  from  older  gu  in  a  few 
French  words  is  also  guttural:  gise  663,  gy(d)e  1950,  gyle 
2596;   also  in  ger-  from  gr-:  gerner  593,  Gernade  56. 

Note  1. — Thus  g  was  not  yet  silent  in  long,  sing,  &c.,  but 
pronounced  just  as  it  still  is  in  longer,  finger,  itc:  y6nge  7, 
iQngen  12,  syngynge  01. 

Note  2. — The  g  of  gn  was  already  silr'iit:  digne  141,  signe 
226,  cumpaignye  24.  In  a  few  cases  the  g  has  been  restored 
in  MnE  through  classical  influence:  cUgidty  from  ME  digni- 
tee. 

gh. 

§29.  ME  gh  was  a  back  (or  guttural)  sound  after  back 
vowels  (a,  o,  u):  ytaught  127,  ynogh  373,  thoughte  385;  and 
a  front  (or  palatal)  sound  before  front  vowels  I'e,  i  or  y): 
knyght  72,  wight  280,  heigh  (or  high)  1065.  The  sounds 
and  their  use  are  just  the  same  as  those  of  German  ^^r  in 
^uclj  and  in  iclj.  They  may  be  heard  and  learned  by  whis- 
pering koo  and  kee  and  dwelling  on  the  sound  following 
the  k. 

Note  1. —  ME  gh  is  usually  dropped  belwcen  vowels,  a 
preceding  i  or  u  being  then  Avritten  y  or  w  (§  2  e):  heigh  31G, 
plural  and  adverb  hye  2463,  271  (whence,  by  analog.y,  singular 
hy  306),  hyer  399;  ynogh  373,  pi.  ynowe;  compare  German 
i)oci},  but  ijoi)e  and  kjoljev  M'ith  silent  i). 


34  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

Note  2. — In  M^E  gh  has  become  silent  (igh  becoming  I  and 
and  then  ai:  nyplit  10)  or  f:  ynogh  373. 

J- 
§30.    Latin  j  had  in   OF  become  dj ,   which  sound  it  has 
retained  in  English  in  words  derived  from  the  French  (avoid 
the  M°F'  sound  j):   Inlian  340,  lolitee  680,  Lipes  705.     For 
the  spelling  see  §  2  g. 

h. 

§  31.    H  was  sounded  as  it  is  to-day.      It  was  silent: — 

i)   In  some  words  from   the  French-Latin:   hostelrye    23, 

honour  46,  honeste  246;   but  sounded  in   French  words  from 

Celtic,  &c.:  harneised  114. 

2)  After  t  in  foreign  words  (cf.  §333);  also  in  Ih^sa  698, 
lohn  P106. 

3)  As  to-day  in  unaffected  speech,  in  unstressed  words  not 
beginning  a  clause:  he  45,  51,  his(e)  i,  5,  8,  hym  102,  hem 
31,  hath  18,  hadde  64;  and  in  cases  like  shuld(e)r  (h)an- 
gynge  2163,  cf.  the  cases  in  §  32. 

Note. — Silent  h  has  been  restored  in  MnE  pronunciation 
in  Bome  words,  for  ex.,  humble,  humor,  &c. 

Consonantal  i  and  u. 
§  32.  i)  Before  unstressed  e,  unstressed  i,  or  y,  is  usually 
unsyllabic,  u  occasionally  so — English:  berye  merye  207,  bis- 
ier  322,  l5uyere  80,  tarien  2820,  ladyes  898,  991,  999,  but  la- 
dy'es  996;  Wylu(gh)  Elm  2420,  yel(o)w  as  675;  French: 
Apothecaries  425,  myscarie  513;  perpetuelly  1024,  and  with 
elided  -e  (§23):  glQri(e)  and  870,  917,  victQri(e)  and  872, 
916,  victQri(e)  of  1235,  solitari(e  hje  1472,  contrari(e)  of 
1667,  3057,  studi(e  h)e  1530,  lili(e)  vpon  1036,  in:  Yif  me 
the  vic'tQrie  I  as'ke  thee  namQQre  2420,  -ie  I  =  conso- 
nantal y;  statti(e)  of  2265,  975.  In  hostelrye  23,  curteisie 
46,  &c.,  the  i  is  stressed;  in  conscience  526,  pacient  415, 
&c.,  the  e  is  often  stressed. 


THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  THE  CONSONANTS.         35 

2)  Before  other  vowels,  i  or  y  is  most  commonly  syllabic, 
the  following  vowel  being  capable  of  stress:  nacions  53,  cor- 
dial 443,  Religioun  477;  still,  specially  15,  glgrious  1955, 
with  consonantal  i. 

Note — Avoid   giving  to  i  in   this  situation   the   modern 
sound  of  for  g:  specially  15,  cordial  443. 

f,   s,    th. 

§  33.  i)  The  fricatives  f,  s  and  th  were  voiceless  (as  in  o^, 
so,  thick,^:  hymself  219,  ful  semeely  123,  inspired  6,  QQth 
120,  thynketh  37,  br^^th  5;  and  so  in  compounds,  &c.:  bifel 
19,  yfalle  25; — except  between  two  vowels  or  a  vowel  and  a 
voiced  consonant,  and  then  they  were  voiced  (as  in  of,  rose, 
the)  and  f  was  usually  written  u:  so  u  in  hymseluen  184, 
siluer  115,  s  in  rjse  33,  qsed  29,  th  in  bathed  3,  oother  113, 
w5rthy  43. 

2)  Fricatives  are  now  voiced  in  unstressed  syllables  and 
words.  Such  forms  as  quod  1224  and  bid^ne,  for  queth  and 
bl  the  ^ne,  show  us  that  this  voicing  had  begun  in  late  ME; 
but  the  d  as  clearly  shows  that  the  voiced  fricative  was  not 
yet  used  in  stressed  forms  (London  Academy,  April  25,  1891). 
We  are  therefore  justified  in  assuming  that  when  unstressed 
(that  is,  in  suffixes  and  in  weak  forms  of  such  words  as  his  8, 
47,  as  49,  69,  was  32,  68,  is  229,  with  79,  81,  of  2,  82,  than 
42,  98,  th^r  34,  43,  this  36,  64,  that  41,  45,  the  2,  44  and 
nathel^^s  35),  fricatives  were  voiced  (or  at  least  whispered, 
§  i),  but  were  voiceless  when  stressed,  and  so  in  monosyl- 
lables in  rime  (his  55,  73,  as  20,  34,  89,  was  47,  51,  is  4,  69, 
with  I,  5,  31,  of  2676,  though  68,  th^rtO  48,  that  i,  36,  43, 
the  38,  they  59,  81).  This  distinction  between  voiced  "with" 
{with  all')  and  voiceless  "with"  {with'  them)  is  still  made 
by  many  Americans.  The  voicing  of  unstressed  wh-  prob- 
ably began  later. 


36  CHAUCER'S  PRONUNCIATION. 

3)  Foreign  th  had  the  sound  of  /  (as  it  still  has  in  thyme, 
Thomas,  and  the  familiar  Art[h),  Lut[h),  T[}i)om,  for  Ar- 
thur &:c.)  and  had  not  yet  succumbed  to  the  influence  of  the 
more  frequent  native  fricative  spelled  th :  Apothecaries  425, 
Scithia  867,  Athenes  873,  Thgbes  939;  at  times  it  was  spelled  t: 
Cartage  404,  Trace  1638,  trQne  2529. 

NOTK  1. —  The  old  ]'  for  th  in  native  words  is  rai't*  in  the 
E  MS:  j't  =  that  08,  146,  pe  =  the  171,  &c.  This  form  of 
"the"  was  in  lime  corrupted  in  writing  to  something  like 
"ye"  and  later  so  printed — but  never  so  pi-onounced! 

Note  2. — Many  words  with  -ther  in  MnE,  had  -der  in  ME: 
fflder  100,  hider  G72.  thider  1263,  gadrede  vs  tOgidre  'gath- 
ered us  together '  824. 

sh. 

§  34.  The  sound  of  f  was  spelled  sh  or  sch,  sh  in  the  E 
MS.      For  double  sh  cf.  §  39  end. 

r. 

§  35.  R  was  probably  distinctly  trilled  with  the  tip  of  the 
tongue,  finally  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

wh. 

§  36.  Wh  was  distinguished  from  w,  as  is  still  done  in  the 
larger  part  of  America:  whistlynge  wynd  170.    Cf.  §  33,3  end. 

z. 

§37.  Z  was  pronounced  as  in  Mi^E,  but  was  rarely  used: 
Zephirus  5,  duszeyne  578. 

Silent  Letters. 

§  38.  The  k  of  kn-  and  the  1  of  -Ik,  &c.,  did  not  become 
silent  until  long  after  ME  times;  and  the  w  of  wr  was  still 
sounded,  either  separately  or  as  a  rounding,  or  labialization, 
of  the  following  r  (as  is  now  done  by  many  speakers  in 
sounding  initial  r):   knyght  43,  knjues  233,  folk  12,  Palmeres 


THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  THE  CONSONANTS.  37 

13,  shOlde  249,   wolde  255,   but   could  (koude    t^o)   had   not 
yet   assumed  1  by  analogy  to  these. 

Double  Consonants. 

§  39.  Double  consonants  were  really  double,  that  is,  they 
were  held,  or  prolonged,  not  repeated;  in  M"E  we  pronounce 
such  consonants  as  though  single:  croppes  s5nne  7,  yr5nne 
8.  In  some  French  words  double  consonants  were  sounded 
single:  Assise  3  14,  excellence  31 1,  office  292.  Double  k  was 
usually  written  kk,  not  ck:  nekke  238,  lokkes  677.  Double 
palatal  g  was  written  gg  and  not  yet  dg:  abreg-ge  allegge 
2999.  Double  ch  was  written  cch  and  not  yet  tch,  cf.  below, 
ff  was  one  way  of  writing  capital  F:  fful  47,  52,  fflaundres 
86,  &:c.  Digraphs  usually  double  only  the  first  letter:  cch, 
ssh:  wrecche  931,  1106,  fresshe  90,  flessh  147,  Asshen  1302. 
Sh  is  always  doubled  medially  and  finally;  but  perhaps  this 
was  still  a  phonetic  spelling  for  j'  +/•  When  final,  double 
consonants  were  usually  written  single:  al  10,  alle  26.  But 
englissh  265,  &c.,  as  above. 


CORRIGENDA. 


p.  12,  below,  read  'a  in  what\  not  'o  in  what'. 
p.  14,  Note,  line  2,  read  §  7,  not  §  37. 
P-  i5»  (<?).  li»e  3,  read  iQliun  340. 
p.  17,  §4,  line  2,  read  'slepen  10'. 

N-,  line  3,  read  §  23,  not  §  iS. 
line  5,  read  §  ^2 ,  not  §  27. 
p,  18,  §  5,  line  2,  read  inspired. 

Note,  last  line,  read  §  32,  not  §  27. 
p.  19,  §  7,  last  line,  read  qu,  not  gr. 

§8,  line  4,  read  lulian. 
p.  20,  line  2,  read  §  2  //,  not  ^h. 

last  word  should  be  'do',  not  'do'. 
p.  21,  §  9,  2,  line  2,  read  'them',  not  'it'. 
p.  25,  line  before  last,  read  //,  not  ?V. 

p.  26,  Note  I,  line  3,  read  'the  long  vowels  ?  and  u  (not   so 
generally  e  and  c>)  still,' 

§  15,  line  5,  cross  out  'and  //'. 

line  6,  cross  out  'statue  83,  Julian  340. 
p.  30,  5  end,  read  §  32,  not  §  27. 


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